Before my guide starts, please DO NOT downvote my guide just because you own other Nautilus guide. Also don't downvote just because you found some little grammar mistake (I'm not native speaker but I think it's still readable) or one of items doesn't fit for you. I will cover more possible items in section "Items". These are just random items for random match. EACH match requires DIFFERENT defensive items, depending on the enemy team.

Welcome to my Nautilus guide. In this guide, I will cover two main build posibilities:

• 1. Solotop build (AP/tanky)
• 2. Solomid build (pure AP)
• 3. Jungle build (Pure Tank)

Most of this guide is concern on 1st and 3rd build because they were my starting ones. For 2nd (Pure AP), there's individual section.

Nautilus is very attractive and fun-to-play champion (IMO) with strong disrupting and battlefield control equipment. I think, he's not difficult champion to play, but still takes some time to get tricky moves with his Dredge Line and Depth Charge (Classic quote: Easy to learn, hard to master). I will describe everything around Nautilus, viable Items, Masteries, Runes, Summoner spells and also Jungling route for starting players. Later on, I will add more details and some tips & tricks so please keep this guide alive by positive voting ;)
For starting players, I recommend to play one or two matches against intermediate AI. Just to learn how his abilities work, their delay etc.

SPAaaaaaaaaaaaaCE

Health: 432 (+86) Health regen.: 7.45 (+0.55) Mana: 200 (+50) Mana regen.: 7.45 (+0.7) Range: 125

SPAaaaCE

Attack damage: 52 (+3.3) Attack speed: 0.613 (+0.98%) Armor: 19 (+3.25) Magic res.: 30 (+0) Mov. speed: 345

U.C. = Under Construction (Not completed part of guide).
IMO = In my opinion.

Crowd controller = Champion who has heavy crowd control (non-slow).
Squishy = Low-health champion / Easy to kill (Mostly focused during the teamfights).
Glass-cannon = Squishy champion with high damage output.
Spawn = Your spawning pool, place when you are rebirthed if you die. Spawn include shop.
Shop = Place when you buy new items (oh really?).
Burst = High damage output over short time.
Poke/Harass = simple attack on enemy champion, during laning, to make him issues with sustain.
Bait = To attract enemy champion with your low-health, to ambush and kill him with help of your hidden teammates.
Laning Phase = Early-game phase when players (excluding Jungler) are staying in their lanes (to Farm and get XP).
Teamfight = Battle between entire teams (Only mid-late game).
Mana-starving = Champion having problems with mana, not enough mana.
Facecheck = To check brush by simply walking into it (Risk to get ambushed by enemy).
Turret aggro = when turret focus you because you attacked enemy champion.
Towerdive = to follow enemy champion to its own Turret, to kill him before Turret kills you.
Pull (Jungle term) = To hit Jungle creep with one ranged autoattack/ability, helps Jungler at start of match.

AoE = Area of effect ability (Can hit multiple targets at once).
DoT = Damage over time.
Blue = Blue buff, obtained by killing Ancient golem jungle (Helpful for AP carries standing in Solo-mid).
Red = Red buff, obtained by killing Lizard king in jungle.
CDR = Cooldown reduction.
CC = Crowd control (stun, slow, snare, fear, knock up, taunt, suppress etc.).
Root = Snare = Being immobilized.

Jungle = space between lanes, occupied by neutral creeps.
Gank/Ganking = Quick action leading to advantage (1v2, 2v3), mostly performed by Jungler.
Farming = Obtaining gold from last-hitting enemy minions.
Last-hitting = using autoattack on enemy low-health minion to obtain gold from. (Tree with last-hit priority: AD Carry -> AP Carry -> Tank -> Support).
Pushing = Quickly killing enemy minion waves to get your own minions to enemy turret.
AD carry = Champion using his autoattacks (and AD-scaling abilities) as main damage source.
AP carry = Champion using his abilities as main damage source.
Tank = Champion who is built to take big amounts of damage.
Jungler = player/champion using jungle to obtain Gold and Experience.
Fighter = Usually AD based champion with better survivability than normal AD carries.
Support = Champion who is helping other teammates (Giving them possitive auras, Healing them, shielding them etc.).

(More about pushing and ganking HERE)
There's still Google, if you dont know something just type it HERE

spaaace

Pros + Great Crowd control equipment + Versatile champion with many possible builds + Strong Teamfighter, can initiate with Depth Charge and Dredge Line combo, good at disrupting enemy team + With some ability power, he can burst down squishy targets (I don't think full AP build, but AP/Tanky build, which is impressive) + Good jungler, Great ganker, Strong pusher (with Titan's Wrath+ Riptide combo) + He has flying animation! Pretty mindfu*king!

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Cons - Slow - Not best clearing speed and sustain in early jungle. - No supportative abilities for your teammates (auras, healing etc.) - Top/Mid Nautilus is often considered as trolling by other players :( - No ranged spammable poke (compared to tanks: Galio, Shen, Dr. Mundo etc.) - Early game mana-starving if played recklessly (like almost every mana-using champion)

SPA

Increases your total magic damage output. Useful especially at early game

SPA

Will help you alot either Solo top or Jungle. Solo top is covered mostly by Physical damage dealers (cca 70-75%)

SPA

Helps you late game to stay longer in teamfights. I chose "per level" because early game it's less useful than mid-late game

SPA

You have good AP ratios and 15 ability power at start comes handy during Jungling/Ganking/Laning

I think, some additional defensive stats (Armor) for Jungling are unnecessary since Jungle is much weaker now. Titan's Wrath and Riptide makes your Jungling comfortable enough.

Greater Quintessence of Health - If you are going full-tank, grab these runes, many times you will barely survive with ~10-30 health points thanks to them.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - Usable on every champion with 300 base movespeed, less or more. I don't recommend these but it's still viable option.
Greater Mark of Armor or Greater Mark of Magic Resist - Absolutely ignoring your damage output? Exchange magic penetration with one of these runes.

Starting Items on Solo top Nautilus:

- Good for starting Nautilus players since it offers nice survivability. (with Potions or without when you want recall soon for next cheap item) - This item is so good when you know you will have sustain problems. Earlier you buy this, more you get from it overall. - Standard setup for me because I like potions and bit of mobility because Nautilus is lazy champion. - Excellent choice on solo top lane against strong AD bullies like Gangplank or Riven

Dont forget on some sight wards when laning. It can save your life and prevent enemy ganks. I don't have time to make my own In-Depth warding guide. More HERE.



I love this item, I use it as core item on my AP/tanky Nautilus. Built from Catalyst the Protector which gives awesome sustain on solo top early game. Another item which offers both AP and some kind of survivability. Also gives aura. Really great item. I get this in 75% cases. I don't think it's good item on Nautilus since he has already great crowd control and he doesn't need additional slow. But it's still viable item on Nautilus and for those who don't want to use Rod of Ages as a core item, this is the right choice. It can be useful under certain circumstances but I dont prefer this item.



Rarely used item, but sometimes it helps more than additional survivability. Perfect item against HP stackers like Vladimir or Cho'Gath. Don't forget to use it at start of teamfight. Offers great aura for your team and gives some AP. But Nautilus DOES NOT benefit well from spellvamp and there are much better items to get on Nautilus so ask someone in team (especially AP carry) to buy it. I like this item so much. Combined with fighters like Nasus or Aatrox, you will get nice advantage in teamfight. But it gives no survivability so it fits better for support's inventory.



Not must-have item for all situations, but when paired with enough armor and magic resist, you will become super-tank. Offers huge bonus for your Titan's Wrath. Be vary of things like Demacian Justice or Deathfire Grasp. I used to build it frequently but now I think that It's better to go for more auras and active items. When are you facing heavy AD team, you MUST have this item. Offers aura which helps your entire team. Also gives mana and CDR. Great item even if you aren't facing heavy AD team. Gives nice active. I don't recommend this item. It's more useful for armor stackers like Rammus or Malphite. Better to get some armor item, which have bonus for your entire team. Usable only in case of heavy AD team. I used to love this item so much. It's amazing during towerdiving aswell as saving your ally who got trapped inside turret with things like Impale or Rocket Grab. Not that amazing after into-support-item remake. Another useful item. Especially useful during towerdiving since it instantly throws turret aggro on you. You are tank, you have to tank turrets. This item is so WORTH after rework, general magic resistance item for you, since you get no advantage from Spirit Visage's healing bonus. This item is supposed to be for champions who have survivability issues and are frequently focused by enemy team. I don't use it anymore.
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Riot made great job when they invented this item. It's viable for every tank/jungler and its tenacity passive allows you to get other boots than Mercury's Treads!




This item is even more amazing after fusion with Aegis, useful in most ways. I know what you think, another item for supports. But I know alot of teams with more than one shurelia's reverie in their team and it's working. Livestreams are proof.
(Don't get me wrong, I don't say: "Buy all of these together", just one of them when comes handy. Otherwise you will lack strong survivability, your main target is still to be tank!)



Evergreen. I grab this in 90% cases.
Since you got Spirit of the Ancient Golem, you can afford one of these instead:

Just more survivability against autoattackers... GG Improved ganking potential and better initiating.
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Pretty standard ench. and in my opinions most viable for any situation.
When enemy team is pushing like mad and/or during defending your base. Also viable during laning phase to get you back after recall quickly.
I'm still thinking about this one and I'm not sure.

This item is getting more and more popular on Nautilus. Why? It's amazing. It gives nice DPS that doesn't make him killer but enemy team just can't ignore you anymore. Combined with Armor items like Sunfire Aegis offers even more DPS and overall you aren't squishy at all. Another choice is Frozen Heart because of its great passive effect.

Both Builds uses almost the same skill sequence, only difference is at 3rd and 4th level. That's because sometimes I want to make ganks at level 3 and without my Dredge Line its much difficult to perform succesfull gank.

Autoattacking immobilizes your target for 0.5/0.75/1sec and deals additional physical damage. Can be applied on same target once per 12 seconds. Many people compares this ability to passive part of Blazing Stampede. Well, this passive have similar mechanism. It's not as strong, but still useful ability for Nautilus. Useful during ganks, teamfights, saving other teammates.
Fires anchor, hitting enemy unit will move it towards you and you towards it, dealing magic damage. Hitting terrain pulls you to terrain and reduces it's cooldown. This is really unique ability. Not as powerful as Rocket Grab but is more spammable and it can be used to travel across the map, once you get enough mana to spam it. Using this ability distinguish good Nautilus players from great ones. Don't forget, this skillshot isn't istant so estimate enemy's position before landing it. Because of mechanism, not damage source, Im maxing it last.
Places shield for up to 10 seconds. When holding shield, your autoattacks are empowered by AoE, applying DoT over 2 seconds to all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage. Great farming tool, can save your life and it scales with you own BONUS health. I'm getting this ability first and give one more point (because many times, it will save your life), then max after Riptide
Causes three waves around you, dealing magic damage and slowing nearby enemies. Enemy takes reduced damage from additional waves. Combined with Titan's Wrath, makes you amazing farmer, pusher and also jungler. Use it on fleeing enemies so they will be hit by all 3 waves when moving out of you. Has fairly low cooldown so don't be afraid of spamming. But when solo toping, don't push your lane too much or you will deny help of your Jungler. Im maxing it first because of nice scaling and great additional slow
Fires projectile on target enemy, dealing magic damage and knocking up all enemies standing in way and deals double magic damage to targeted enemy, knocking him up and also stunning him. Your ultimate. This thing can turn tides of battle. Use it to interrupt channeled spells such like Death Lotus. Combined with other ultimates like Enchanted Crystal Arrow during the teamfight or gank means certain death to your target. Max it on lvl 6, 11 and 16.

Tips&Tricks:

• Don't forget, Nautilus will start autoattack target after using Dredge Line on that target, so you will automatically root him.
• If you want to save your root for later (useful when ganking/teamfight then chasing). Be careful about landing autoattack on target enemy. Usually pressing S will prevent from autoattacking. But another action will broke this effect so it's a bit complicated.
• At start of match your root has only 0.5 duration. At levels 7 (0.75sec) and 13 (1sec) gets improved. Don't forget on this fact, since your early ganks will have root with weaker effect then later at mid-late game.

Tips&Tricks:

• It has slight delay between throwing anchor and dragging yourself. When you land your Dredge Line and in next ~0.3sec get Stunned/Feared/Taunted etc., you will still be pulled to terrain.
• Consider which target you should use to initiate with your Dredge Line during mid-late game. Pulling tanks like Amumu isn't good move because they can take advantage of it and ruin your team. Also forgot about slippery champions (e.g. Shaco).
• While casting Dredge Line, you can still cast Titan's Wrath and Riptide even if it's channeled spell (~0.2sec)

Trivia:

• When used on enemy with low health and Dredge Line will land killing blow, you will be pulled to it's target location instead of half-way.
• If used on Baron Nashor/Dragon, Nautilus will simply move half-way and Baron stays at place

• When used on enemy under stealth, It will still do damage and pull each to other, but enemy remains stealthed (except Teemo, his stealth will be broken)
• Also can be grabbed to already ruined turret, aswell as ruined inhibitor
• Doesn't work on Wards and any targetable ( Noxious Trap) or untargetable ( Yordle Snap Trap) objects
• If you cast Dredge Line on some enemy or terrain and immediately use Flash, Dredge Line will be interrupted.
• Use your Dredge Line wisely because you can make more mess than help. (e.g. Your ally is being chased by enemy bully, you are going toward your ally, casting your anchor in this position will help your enemy to close gap with poor ally)

Tips&Tricks:

• Remember, you gain AoE magic damage from autoattack only if you are having shield. Once you lose your shield, you also lose its offensive bonuses. If you want to deal bonus damage for full 10 seconds, you have to stay untouched.
• On first look it seems to be useful for pure AP build too. But look on previous tip... Pure AP doens't build much health and has weak shield. So it's relatively easy for enemy to pop 80-280 points of your health and then completely interrupt your damage source from this ability.
• Because DoT doesn't stack with itself, theoretically you need to touch your enemy only once per 2 seconds to deal biggest possible magic damage from it.
• Underneath the enemy turret be vary of using Titan's Wrath because even attacking minion can cause turret aggro when enemy champion is standing nearby because of AoE. However, when you attack turret, AoE isn't applied.
• Don't forget it deals massive damage to minions when maxed. so be careful when you don't want to push your lane.

Tips&Tricks:

• Basic tip: use this ability to chase your opponent, since it has big chance to hit him with all three waves because target is moving out of you = in direction of waves
• Also it has chance to hit target with two waves even if target isn't moving. When you want to farm minion waves, don't stay directly at them but go a bit farther.
• If you are using full tank Nautilus and you aren't supposed to deal damage, don't pop your Riptide immediately after teamfight starts, but save it for chasing. However, with some CDR, you can overlook this fact.
• Additional waves will start from same location when you casted it so when you will use Flash or Dredge Line on terrain immediately after you used Riptide, additional waves won't follow you.

Tips&Tricks:

• When Twitch or Evelynn are preparing on stealth (has ~2 second delay) focus them with Depth Charge. It will follow stealthed enemy (you can see animation of your projectile, seeking them) and when stops, that's the place where it hit them (and knocked-up / stunned them). That's especially useful if you have strong skillshoters in team like Lux or champions with reveal like Lee Sin or Kog'Maw. Then you/your team can kill stealthed champion easily even if you/they don't have Oracle's Elixir. (However, Depth Charge will not reveal champions by itself, but if will only shows area where they got catched by projectile)
• Testing experiment about "Will depth charge hit Master Yi with full movement speed stuff?". EDIT: I tested Depth Charge on Master Yi with five Phantom Dancers and Mobility Boots (+ Ghost and Highlander). Outcome: Projectile is still accelerating until reaches its target = Projectile succesfully chased him before Ghost and Highlander expired

Some people wants Flash, others Ghost. Both spells are good for our Nautilus. Choose what you want. I added some Pros and Cons for that choice.

SPAce

+ Can get you over the wall + Useful after towerdive, to survive Turret aggro + To land killng blow - Nerfed distance - Long cooldown - Can be countered by enemy Flash

SPA

+ Can help you travel longer distances + Since you have low base movement speed, its very useful for you during teamfights etc. + Will help you with chasing much better than Flash - When caught by someone with Frozen Mallet and better mobility, Ghost comes useless - Still useless against things like Cataclysm - No possible tricky moves like with Flash

Should I grab Ignite or Exhaust?: Pick what your team needs, or in Ranked games against certain types of enemies ( Ignite counters guys with high regeneration ( Vladimir, Dr. Mundo, Swain etc.) Exhaust counters AD carries)... I marked Exhaust as one of recommended summoner spells because it's useful on solo top and can be used defensive too (for escape).

Also consider getting Teleport: Good for early-game solo top Nautilus because of minimal experience loss and also to prevent pushing your turret. Mid-Late game if can be used to save your turret or farm minion waves.

I pick Cleanse for 1% of my games. Can be used in draft mode only, because you can see your enemy team before match starts. If there is truly insane CC enemy comp, capable of countering my entire initiation (even with Banshee's Veil), I consider getting it.

Heal is good spell for beginners. It used to be more popular back in the days, now its nerfed again, it loses sense in higher level play.

Blue Route is your first Round
then recall and grab your Boots or Spirit Stone (and 1-2 health pots), choose between mobility and sustain. Now when you have boots, your ganks are much more valuable. Don't forget on ganks, it's key to become a succesful jungler.
Red Route is your second Round

Ask your teammates to help you damage first camp (ancient golem). Starting players should finish Ancient Golem (Blue Buff) with Smite.

Once you get used to jungling, you can make both Blue Buff and Red buff in one round, while not spending Smite on Blue Buff and using it on Red buff instead.

Using Health Potion: At: 2, 3, 4, 7, 8

Then you can repeat it or make some gank. Always read what you teammates wants. Synergy with them. When the enemy team lacks jungler and your Solo top player is standing against two enemies, help him as much as possible to keep him alive (After first round).

Don't forget to let next blue buff to your AP mid carry. Leave the ancient golem with cca 300 health remaining and then let your teammate to pick-up blue buff. (Write him to chat before it, let he knows)

THIS ROUTE IS FOR BEGINNING JUNGLERS. EXPERIENCED JUNGLERS CAN USE THEIR OWN JUNGLE ROUTE.

I decided to finally reveal my Pure AP build. After some testing I think it's decent build and isn't focused only on offensive side so you will do "Tons of damage" but still be able to survive some less-dangerous situations.

I wanted to have tough caster, since Nautilus isn't kind of champion who can cast and be safe during it (like some other champions: Veigar with AoE stun, Xerath with long-range etc.). You need to stay close to your enemies.

Rabadon's can be rushed early but isn't recommended because you have to stick to the enemies.



- Surprised? Why? Look at your cooldowns. Don't worry, later on you will buy Void Staff for shreding their resistances. (There IS option to buy Sorcerer's Shoes for early-mid game and later on exchange them with Ionian Boots of Lucidity. That's because early-game, 20 flat magic penetration is big bonus, unlike late-game)
- Once again, gives all you need early game. Built from catalyst the protector which gives you great sustain on lane.
- Just like Annie, you will love to combine Rod of Ages and Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Mid game you should have these three items in your inventory, I hope you won't have problems with gold (You are pure AP, you are supposed to get kills and farm on your mid lane).
- I know you aren't Tanky AP now, but this item is just awesome, gives AP for power, Magic penetration aura for even more power, and still some defensive stat. (If you aren't threatened by AP enemies, buy it after Rabadon's Deathcap)
- This item doesn't need any any comment...
- You are pure AP, you need to shred their resistances! If enemies are doing nothing but stacking magic resist, get this before Abyssal Mask

Optional items:

- have problem with AD carries more than AP carries? exchange it with Abyssal Mask. If playing against enemies without strong magic resist, exchange it with Void Staff instead. - have enemies with are rather health-stacking than AP based? exchange it with Abyssal Mask. UPDATED: This item is very attractive last months, recommended. - this item is valuable too. Exchangable with Abyssal Mask.
(TBA)

SPA

Increases your total magic damage output. Useful especially at early game

SPA

My build lacks Armor items so I decided to use armor per level runes (Also can use flat armor)

SPA

To get AP advantage later in game. You are pure AP, you need great ability power.

SPA

You have good AP ratios and 15 ability power at start comes handy during Laning

Nothing revolutionary. Just level-up Riptide as soon as possible, excluding lvl6



Pretty standard spells.




Nothing much, but think it's enough.

This is pretty new section. I saw many Nautilus players on bottom and I have several inconsistent opinions on them.

As a support, your roles (to a teammate = AD carry) are:

1. Letting him farm.
2. Buying wards, preventing enemy gank.
3. Offer your teammate improved sustain.
4. Save your teammate in dangerous situations.
5. Help your teammate to get some kills.

While first two are same for all supports, others depend on current support champion.

First of all, Nautilus have NOT any natural healing or shielding abilities castable on his allies. Also, he haven't any natural buffs castable on his allies (e.g. Blood Boil, Time Warp...). He looks like he's not real support. But...
On the other hand, his abilities offers great utility for your teammate, and have high potentional to either save your teammate or even get some kills (ALL abilities excluding Titan's Wrath). This is reason why support Nautilus IS viable. Although I won't add build for support Nautilus (Build would be hybrid between early game suppports and mid-late game tanks), I wanted to create this section becuase it's attractive topic.

- This is by far the best partner to get with Nautilus. Depth Charge combined with Enchanted Crystal Arrow gives freekills.
- Nautilus utility can set up perfect positioning for Vayne and her Condemn. Also effective.
- Why? Because pulling enemies into Yordle Snap Trap is fun! Also useful when she wants to land Ace in the Hole even if theres enemy who can intercept the bullet. Catch one of them with Dredge Line at right angle and problem is solved!

I'm answering on any serious questions about nautilus, tips to make this guide better or just funny situations. I'm regularly viewing your comments and mostly anwsering by commenting too.

Many of them helped me alot and contributed to current form of my guide. Thank you all.

White: Guide updates/ fixes
Orange: Patch notes/ Buffs and Nerfs
Cyan: Guide statistics


2012-02-14 : Released patch V1. 0. 0. 134 including Nautilus
2012-02-24 : Published my Nautilus guide
2012-02-25 : Added some more info about abilities and fixed some mistakes
2012-02-26 : Added alternative runes, fixed some mistakes, added some items
2012-02-27 : First day being the TOP guide, thanks :)
spaaaaaaaaceAdded more info about viable items. Made support items section (I know you are tank)
2012-02-28 : 80%+ rating, Mini-fixes
2012-02-29 : 100.000+ views, Mini-fixes, Reworked "Summoner spells" section
2012-03-03 : Mini-fixes (mostly grammar), "Dictionary" section expanded a bit.
2012-03-04 : PURE AP BUILD
2012-03-05 : Added "Feedback" section, list of the top priority Chapters (in "Welcome" section)
2012-03-06 : Reworked examples of random builds.
2012-04-11 : Rewrited Jungle build (Accidentally deleted), and Added "Could I play Nautilus as a support?" Section.
2012-05-05 : Added "I don't want to be ignored during the teamfights!" section. Explains Wit's End popularity.
2012-06-02 : Returned to keep my guide fresh. I see no nerfs/buffs, no general changes, so it's good to know that Nautilus is pretty balanced champion :3
2012-06-29 : Here comes Draven patch with first nerf for our Nautilus. But nothing significant. Over one million views and four months of first place. yay!

2012-07-11 : Here comes Jayce patch with some nerfs. All of them are focused on early game, max ranks are same. 2012-09-09 : Updated. No serious business added... 2012-09-30 : Updated. 2012-11-03 : 2.000.000+ VIEWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH ;) 2012-12-04 : Here comes Nami patch and we got slight buff of Titan's Wrath! 2012-12-23 : S3 update. More to be added. 2013-04-10 : Nautilus BUFF is coming! More base armor and lower W cooldown at earlier ranks. 2013-04-20 : Added new version of Jungle build + tweaked old build items. 2013-06-01 : Im back! :) Tiny fixes and added Astronautilus ingame screen, because I dont know what else to add. \_(シ)_/ So many views (currently 3,37 M), that's insane! Thank you guys, especially those who are backing up my dubstep channel. I like how Nautilus is relatively popular jungler on tournaments. 2013-06-13 : Here comes Aatrox patch with slight adjustment of his W damage part 2013-09-18 : Updated jungle section, some little changes in item section. More updates for sake of new patches soon. 2013-10-17 : Finally noticed there are outdated things (biggest issue being Runic Bulwark, which was completely removed from the game). Sorry I overlooked it.

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